12 Days of Channy
by DanniGirl91
Summary: 12 stories inspired by you. 12 stories full of romance, smut, fun and sweetness. So, what are you waiting for? Come on inside and check it out!
1. AN

It's that time of year again! I've been watching my SWAC, have you?

I'm going to do my 12 Days of SWAC again. Just send me prompts, quotes, songs, ideas, anything, and I will use them (and credit you!). I will be starting this Thursday, a little earlier because by Christmas time, I will be so consumed in everything jolly, I won't even think about anything else :)

-Danni


	2. Love Me or Hate Me

Christmas carols. The smell of the turkey in the oven. Presents, both wrapped and unwrapped, all around her. Sonny loved this time of year. She loved being with her family, surrounded by so much love, that she felt like she could just burst. And this year was even better than years previous, because Sonny could afford to fly all of her family out, including her cousins and aunts and uncles, her grandparents, and even her old dog, Cooper. Ever since she had woken up that morning, it felt like Christmas felt when she was a kid.

And yet, there was something nagging at her, keeping a smidgen of her focus when her good friend, and cousin, Emma, was discussing the gossip of the town where the two had grown up together. There was a pang of anxiousness she felt every time someone knocked on the door and the lights from the cars passing by drove in her line of vision. It made her pick at her food instead of shovelling it in. And it made her catch her breath every time someone said, "Hey."

As much as she told herself to let it go, to ignore these strange reactions, she just couldn't stop them. She knew what it was, how it all boiled down to a specific blond haired boy.

Chad and her had had a huge blow up during the Christmas work party just the day previous, and Sonny had been on edge ever since. The fight had been embarrassing and loud and had shocked everyone, especially Chad and Sonny.

_ "What exactly is your problem?" Sonny gritted out, pushing her date out of the way so that she could see Chad more clearly. "Why is it so necessary for you to ruin this for me? For everyone?" She tried and tried, but she could not keep her volume to where she wanted to it be._

_ "What are you talking about? You're crazy!" Chad said, meeting her volume and gaze, and standing ready for a fight._

_ "I'M crazy? You are the one completely threatened by the fact that I have a date. And now you're trying to sabotage it. Why? Why do you want to ruin my life?" Sonny all but cried. She was able to keep herself from stomping her foot like a child, but she could hardly keep the tears back. They were threatening their way to her eyes' surface._

_ "Threatened? I'm not- I'm not threatened!" Chad yelled out, almost as much to reassure himself as everyone else. "I was just teasing you! That's all I was doing, teasing. I do it all the time."_

_ "Teasing, Chad? Teasing is making a joke about So Random. Teasing is laughing at my costumes, my hair, my weird makeup for skits. Teasing is putting you above all of us," she motioned at the rest of So Random," and making you seem way better. This, right here, is not teasing Chad. This, this is jealousy!"_

_ The silence that surrounded them all after that statement was so palpable, so thick, that Sonny could have cut it with a knife. She tried to calm her breathing, to take her breaths longer and keep her chest from heaving with the strain of sucking in too much air. But she was just too angry, too unfocused to even care. She looked up at Chad then, beneath her side hanging bangs, and caught sight of someone who did not look a thing like Chad, but like a beaten man, a man so confused and lost. This was not her intention._

_ "Chad." She said it as a statement, and it came out more like a sigh. Pushing her annoying locks of hair behind her ear, Sonny took a step towards him, but he just took a step back. And then another. And another. Until he was fully walking away, and there was nothing Sonny could do or say to stop him._

"Sonny? Dear, you have barely been listening to me all night. What is up with you?" asked her mother, reaching for her hand, but Sonny withdrew it and pasted on the smile she'd been working on all day. It wasn't that she was unhappy, no. It was that she felt like she was missing something; she was filled with that anxiety one had when they forgot to turn off a light in their house before a vacation. But Sonny didn't exactly know what her light was.

"Yes, mum. I've been listening. You were just telling me about the beautiful set of candles Aunt Fern bought Gramma. I saw them too. I specifically liked the deep purple one. Such a soothing scent," Sonny automatically answered. She was used to having to do this- to listening without paying attention and responding without a second thought. It was a skill acquired from being a child daydreamer.

And just like that, she was lost again in her racing thoughts. Until the doorbell rang.

"I'll grab that. I have no idea who it could be though, I think we're all here now," came her Uncle Fred's voice from the head of the table. Everyone laughed and smiled around at each other. It had been years since everyone had been together for the holidays.

Sonny didn't even bother to look up as her uncle made his way to the door. She had given up any hope she had had over what she thought may have happened. And she didn't even know what she thought would happen. She sighed deeply and pulled at a long tendril of her hair.

"Sonny, it's for you!"

Her heart beat a million times in her chest before she realized that everyone at the table was staring over at her, expecting her to get up and move to the door, acting normally. But she didn't feel normal; not one bit. Her knees shook as she got to her feet, and her fingers nervously tugged at her skirt, flattening the fabric and pulling it a little longer than it lay. Her feet seemed like lead as she moved towards the door, and she tried to keep her eyes ahead, not looking at the curious expressions on her family's faces as she kept moving. Were they looking at her like that because of her visitor, or because she couldn't keep her head on straight?

"It's some young man named Chad," her uncle informed her, pushing her forward and whispering in her ear.

And so it was. There he stood, in the doorframe of her little house, in a dark jacket and a dishevelled look on his face, matching his hair that stood on end. She had to fight the urge to laugh.

"What is it, Chad?" she asked, keeping her hands busy by playing with the doorknob. There was a moment of silence.

"Merry Christmas!" he suddenly blurted, shocking them both. He blushed a little, the effect surprising Sonny. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever seen Chad blush. "Look, I came here because, well, there's this thing my mom used to say to my sister when we were younger. Something about how, if you hate someone, they are always on your mind, but if you love them, they will always be in your heart. So, for that one person who you don't know quite exactly how to feel about, they win either way. For my sister, that person was her best friend, Matilda. For me, I've recently come to realize, it is you."

He said all this in such a rush that Sonny had a very tough time getting all of it. But she did. And it made her more confused than ever.

"So, you're telling me that you think about me, and have a place in your heart for me? So, you hate me and love me?" she asked, trying to get it. But, she just didn't.

"I guess that what I'm saying is, I'd rather love you. Because, you may be only in my mind if I hate you, but if I love you, you will be in my heart AND my head, because I think about you all the time. You were right last night, Sonny. I was jealous. Embarrassingly jealous. And I'm sorry. I wanted to go to the Christmas party with you, but my pride, and confused feelings, got in the way. Next time, I will just have to ask before another guy does," he shrugged, getting more comfortable and leaning against the doorframe.

"Who says that I will say yes, though?" asked Sonny, still a little confused. She didn't know what to think, really. She'd always suspected that there was something repressed between them, but she never, in her wildest dreams, thought that Chad would admit this aloud.

"You will say no?" he asked, popping himself off the door and standing ramrod straight again. His eyes looked hurt and his face got even paler, if that was possible.

"I'm not sure, Chad. I will know when the time comes."

He looked her over for a moment, making her feel supremely self-conscious. But then, he smiled. "What if I asked you out right now, then? What would you say to that?"

"What, for next year? Don't you think that's a little pretentious, if not, early?" she asked, back to fidgeting with the doorknob.

"No. About now. I'm asking about now."

"Chad, it's Christmas Day! We can't go on a date right now," Sonny began, trying not to roll her eyes at his insane tactics.

"Actually Sonny, dear, we are going ice skating in about twenty minutes. Your friend here is more than invited to join us. That sounds pretty romantic to me," whispered her aunt loud enough that Chad could hear, and chuckle at the absurdity of it all.

"Great! So it's settled then. Our first date, right now, on the ice. How exciting!" Chad exclaimed, welcoming himself in and closing the door behind him. "So, what will it be, Sonny? Will you hate me and always have me on your mind? Or will you do as I've done, and love and keep me in your heart?" Chad's eyebrows rose and it took everything Sonny possessed not to groan in frustration and laugh at the same time.

Because he knew exactly which it would be.

Thanks to IloveMEandonlyME0721 for this quote:

"Love me or hate me, they are both in my favour. If you love me, I will always be in your heart, and if you hate me I will always be in your mind"

…which inspired this story. I hope you all enjoyed :)

-Danni


End file.
